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St
George, Hindolveston (old church)

The
new church
of St George is up in the centre of the
village; but this ruin down on the bottom road is
all that is left of a large medieval parish
church. Ladbrooke's drawing (right) shows the
great height of the tower, and a massive bell
window to the east.

This window
may well have been the building's undoing,
because at half past three on a warm, still
afternoon that side of the tower came crashing
down into the nave. Someone was inside at the
time, apparently; he survived, but it must have
set his pulse racing, and given him a story to
tell his grandchildren.

The
chancel survived, and was used until a temporary church
was built up in the village. Soon after the new St George opened in 1932,
the chancel here was demolished as dangerous, leaving
only the incongruous 19th century vestry. It must have
been an interesting church if Ladbrooke's drawing and the
surviving fittings now reset at the new church are
anything to go by.

The tower
is entirely covered with ivy, and the two surviving
corners protruding at the top make it reminscent of Jeff
Koon's installation sculture Puppy - indeed, it is
about the same height. Whether the ivy will eventually
bring the whole structure down, or if it is actually what
is holding it up, I do not know, but it is dramatic and
pleasing. The graveyard is still in use.